Tariff Worries Weigh on Markets

The S&P 500 retreated on Monday, struggling to rebound from February’s rout as a deadline on President Donald Trump’s tariff policies this week ratcheted up economic concerns.The Dow Jones Industrials fell 84.58 points, to move into Monday afternoon at 43,756.33The much-broader index capsized 12.35 points to 5,942.15The NASDAQ Composite lost 84.39 points to 18,762.88. Monday marks the start of a new trading month after the three major indexes notched losses for February. The Dow and S&P 500 each slipped more than 1%, while the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite recorded its worst month since April 2024 with a drop of 4%.Soft economic data for the manufacturing and construction sectors released Monday offered the latest reasons for worry about the state of the U.S. economy. Those releases kick off a big week for economic data, with the February jobs report slated for Friday.The rocky start to the new trading month comes as Trump’s plans to impose import duties on key U.S. trading partners this week loom over the stock market. These policy proposals have rattled investors and stirred up market volatility recently as traders worry that they will reignite inflation.Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Sunday on Fox News that the exact tariff that will be levied against Mexico and Canada starting Tuesday is still “fluid,” which means it could be lower than the proposed 25%. He added that the additional 10% duty on China imports is “set.” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on CBS that Mexico has offered to match the U.S. tariffs on China, potentially as a means of getting out of the tariffs set to be imposed against them on Tuesday.Elsewhere, cryptocurrencies rallied after Trump announced the creation of a strategic crypto reserve for the U.S. that will include bitcoin and ether. Bitcoin briefly jumped 10% to nearly $94,000 after dipping to a three-month low under $80,000 on Friday. Shares of crypto exchange stocks including Coinbase, Robinhood and MicroStrategy rose.Prices for the 10-year Treasury popped, lowering yields to 4.20%, compared to Friday’s 4.21%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.Oil prices slid 26 cents to $69.50 U.S. a barrel. Prices for gold strengthened $53.60 an ounce to $2,902.10 U.S.